Henderson vs. Mayo at Delmarva

[RZNJ]

Found some great video of Henderson on youtube of his highlights.   Everyone of his homers shown was to the opposite field.   That's probably a very good thing.   I don't think it's because he can't turn on the ball but it certainly looks as though he hasn't learned to pull the ball in the air to this point in his career.   If he can maintain the oppo swing and start pulling the ball for homers he could turn into a real beast power-wise.   Also, another defensive play where he looks like a SS.    His athleticism in the field was very surprising for me to see.   That's the 2nd defensive highlight I've seen of him where I was like "wow!".

 

Also some great video of Westburg available and his power was more impressive than I expected.  No cheapies!

[CharmCityHokie]

7 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Found some great video of Henderson on youtube of his highlights.   Everyone of his homers shown was to the opposite field.   That's probably a very good thing.   I don't think it's because he can't turn on the ball but it certainly looks as though he hasn't learned to pull the ball in the air to this point in his career.   If he can maintain the oppo swing and start pulling the ball for homers he could turn into a real beast power-wise.   Also, another defensive play where he looks like a SS.    His athleticism in the field was very surprising for me to see.   That's the 2nd defensive highlight I've seen of him where I was like "wow!".

 

Also some great video of Westburg available and his power was more impressive than I expected.  No cheapies!

I keep thinking about this every time I see highlights of his HRs and while I'm thrilled he has the power to go opposite-field seemingly at ease, the frequency makes me worry about bat speed or pitch timing, but I'm probably overthinking it. 

I hope he figures out how to start pulling it, because those oppo-shots aren't going to play as well against the new LF wall in Camden Yards.

[LookinUp]

On 1/22/2022 at 11:01 AM, CharmCityHokie said:

I keep thinking about this every time I see highlights of his HRs and while I'm thrilled he has the power to go opposite-field seemingly at ease, the frequency makes me worry about bat speed or pitch timing, but I'm probably overthinking it. 

I hope he figures out how to start pulling it, because those oppo-shots aren't going to play as well against the new LF wall in Camden Yards.

I think I was one of the first to raise this last year. 

On one hand, I've seen the Freddie Freeman videos where he just peppers line drives over the SSs head in BP. It's awesome, so I love that Gunnar lets the ball travel. I do expect that an extreme LF trend means he's not turning on the inside stuff for power. That's what I was worried about. He should live from the bullpens to the flag court at Camden Yards one day.

I think he's a work in progress, but with great tools, and I feel like this player development staff understands the nonsense I just spewed much better than me. I'm sure they're working on refining what he's doing.

[Tony-OH]

On 1/22/2022 at 10:54 AM, RZNJ said:

Found some great video of Henderson on youtube of his highlights.   Everyone of his homers shown was to the opposite field.   That's probably a very good thing.   I don't think it's because he can't turn on the ball but it certainly looks as though he hasn't learned to pull the ball in the air to this point in his career.   If he can maintain the oppo swing and start pulling the ball for homers he could turn into a real beast power-wise.   Also, another defensive play where he looks like a SS.    His athleticism in the field was very surprising for me to see.   That's the 2nd defensive highlight I've seen of him where I was like "wow!".

 

Also some great video of Westburg available and his power was more impressive than I expected.  No cheapies!

Athleticism is not the problem for Henderson. He's plenty athletic and can make some great plays at SS. The questions are whether he's going to outgrow that quickness he has now and also the consistency of his hands and throws. 

I still think he's going to end up at 3B or maybe 2B if the hands don't come around, similar to Schoop. 

[Paul in Virginia]

Baltimore Orioles: Coby Mayo Should Stick at Third Base (eutawstreetreport.com)

"If this were the Orioles of yesteryear, I could see a position switch, but this regime does skill maximization as well as anyone. I’m going to hold fast to my contention that when the O’s have Gunnar Henderson at SS and Coby next to him playing 3rd it’ll be time to start expecting very big things."